Most Japanese people know very little about Christianity. They almost never come across someone who claims to be a Christian, so a lot of people get curious when I (Tomo) tell them I’m a Christian and ask me questions. Here are some of the questions many people asked me.
“Have you read the Bible?” A lot of people know that “the Bible” is the sacred book of Christianity. But they think it’s like any other book that you read from cover to cover once, or more if you really like it. Most of them don’t know that the Bible is made up of many different books. One time, I made a purse and embroidered Psalm 18:46 on it in English, and a friend of mine asked me if I finished making it at 6:46 in the evening. So I explained that it was a quote from the Bible and the numbers meant “Chapter 18 Verse 45” in a book called Psalms.
“Do you have a Christian name?” I get this a lot. They’re thinking of baptismal names.
“Do you have to wear a robe at church?” They were thinking of a robe that a priest or choir wears. They probably get this image from movies. For a lot of people, foreign movies (mostly American movies) are the primary source of information about Christianity.
“Moses, right?” A friend of mine from high school knew that the word “Moses” had something to do with Christianity. I told her that Moses is a person in the Bible who parted the sea and she was pretty impressed, although she probably didn’t think I seriously believed it really happened.
“What’s the difference between Catholic and Protestant?” This is one of the most common questions that I get asked.
“Is your dad gaijin (American/European)?” I got this from a coffee shop manager at a job interiew when I told him my dad was a pastor. I told him no but he still thought it was cool and hired me.
“Is everything done in English at church?” A lot of people associate Christianity with Western culture. When they think of Christians they think of Caucasian missionaries or a priest who performs weddings.
“What do you do at church?” One time when I was asked this when I was in elementary school, I said “we sing songs”. Then my puzzled friend asked me “What do you guys sing about?” So I said “We sing about God”. She looked like she was weirded out and she didn’t ask me about church again. In fact she didn’t really talk to me much after that. I was like, “Dang it, I should’ve said we hang out with other kids and eat lunch!”